Islamic Sects and Tenets
MODERN Islam is divided into two main groups, the Sunnis and Shiis, 1 and into a number of subgroups too numerous to detail here. This fact will surprise some who think of Islam as one united religion. Sects in Islam usually sprang from personal or political differences with the main body of a group rather than from theological disagreements. Such differences as do exist are, for the non-Muslim nonscholar, rather minor. Hence, Muslim doctrines discussed herein, with a few exceptions, are treated as essentially the same for all believers in Islam. The term sect with reference to Islam usually means "heresy," 2 which depends on one's own stance. 3 The Sunnis and Shiis are somewhat analogous to the Protestants and Roman Catholics in Western Christendom, although the similarity is arbitrary and artificial. Throughout most of the Muslim world the Sunnis predominate. Although often called the "orthodox" Muslims this use of Christian terminology can be misleading.
The Sunnis
The Sunnis take their name from the Traditions of Mohammed, the sunna, and are more correctly called the People of the Sunna (ahl alsunna). Inasmuch as the Shiis also accept the Traditions of Mohammed, though they have their own authentic collection, the name Sunni is in a sense a misnomer; yet it serves well to identify the much larger group of the Muslim community.
The Sunni sects are better called schools or ways. For all practical purposes they govern belief. Different areas may sub scribe more to one than to the others, but the casual observer will not notice the difference. These four orthodox Sunni schools are: 4
Hanafi: holds sway among Sunnis in parts of Western Asia, Lower Egypt, and Pakistan.
Maliki: predominates in North and West Africa and Upper Egypt. Shaft: school of thought that controls the masses of Muslim Indonesia. Wahabi (called Hanbali before its eighteenth-century revival): less tolerant, more nationalistic and purist. Its sphere of influence is Central and Northern Arabia.
The Shiis
The Shiis are so called because of their adherence to the party of Ali, the fourth Caliph and the nephew and son-in-law of Mohammed. Shii and Sunni government administration forms are much alike.5 With some minor differences Shiis and Sunnis are similar in religion; however, there are three important ex ceptions. The Shiis accuse the Caliph Uthman (Osman) of suppressing some Quranic verses favorable to Ali; they reject the first three Caliphs6 in favor of Ali and his house; 7 and, as already noted, they have their own set of Traditions. Their esoteric teaching and interpretation of the Quran should be noted. Those working with Shiis will do well to study their particular beliefs.
To many non-Muslims, Shiis are best remembered for their annual commem oration of the massacre at Kerbala on the tenth of Muharram. A bearded Muslim youth once told me some atrocious tales of Sunni-Shii antipathy arising out of that event. That feeling still exists. Any good history of early Islam will recount that incident at Kerbala, eliminating its need to be told here.
Although a number of small splinter groups exist, Shiis are divided into only three major subsects:
Zaidis of Yemen.
Ismailis or "Seveners" found mostly in India and Pakistan. (The Aga-Khan is the visible head of a subsect of Ismailis.)
Imamis or "Twelvers" who live mainly in Iran and its immediate neighbors.
Shiis call Ali their first Imam. (Sunnis call him the fourth Caliph.) In addition to the civil leadership of Muslims, which Sunnis give to the Caliph, both the Imamis and Ismailis regard the Imam as the spiritual guide and interpreter of Islam, receiving his "light" direct from God.
Since the last Imam (the seventh for the "Seveners" and the twelfth for the "Twelvers") died or disappeared, he has been the Hidden Imam reputedly giving guidance through the visible head. He is to return as the Mahdi. Shiis reject Sunni ijma, but hold instead tagiya (dissimulation). All this makes truth relative, and for the Imami the Imam's "light" is infallible. Seventh-day Adventist evangelists will surely see the spiritistic implications in this esoteric belief.
The Ahmadis
Another group, the Ahmadis or the Ahmadiyyas,8 claims to be neither Sunni nor Shii. The Ahmadis are considered heretical by most other Muslims, and consequently have suffered very severe religious persecution. But their belief in Mohammed requires that they be classed as Muslims, though in a sense they are more like a cult than a sect.
The Ahmadis are split into two groups9 that are both very active apologists10 for Islam. The Adventist evangelist in a Mus lim area will almost certainly meet some of them. Some are zealous opponents of Christian missionaries, though they have copied many of the missionaries' methods, and have expanded into Europe, America, and parts of Africa, as well as into the East Indies. They are syncretistic in origin, and may also be called Messianic.
Mirza Ghulam Ahmad's claim to be the returned Messiah has often been misunderstood, even by Adventists, as a claim to be a reincarnation of Jesus Christ. This is incorrect.
The mystical experiences of Mirza Ghulam Ahmad are used by Ahmadis as subjective evidence for truth. Their robust zeal makes it wise to avoid public confrontation. Both Ahmadis groups are purist, denouncing an accretion of saint worship, but the claim by the Qadian Party of prophethood for the founder (this is denied by the Lahore Party) makes Ahmadis suspect to Sunni Islam.
Sufism, or Islam's brand of mysticism, has so long a history it cannot find a place here. Its orders, somewhat like lodges and secret societies, cross sectarian lines and are open to all Muslims without business, educational, or cultural bias or requirements. 11 Sufism provides Islam with an emotional outlet. In an otherwise very legal and rigid religion like Islam, this aspect broadens its base of appeal and holding power. These orders vary from area to area. Sufism, with its saint worship and deeply subjective mystical experiences, can gain an almost viselike hold on the mind of the devotee. 12
The Five "Pillars of Faith"
The Islamic world today Sunni and Shii believes in five Pillars of Faith. These are (1) The shahada—the creed or profes sion of faith ("la ilaha illa'llah muhammadum rasulu'llah," "There is only one God; Mohammed is the Apostle of God"); (2) Prayer--a minimum of five specified times a day; (3) Alms--one fortieth of one's yearly income, whether of money or kind; (4) Fasting--abstinence from food or drink during the daylight hours for the entire ninth lunar month of the year, Ramadan; also for certain offenses; (5) Pilgrimage--Hajj, particularly to Mecca (but may include other holy cities) at least once in a lifetime. 13
The Muslim also has a number of in junctions that he must observe, which the Adventist evangelist should carefully note. For example, there are regulations regarding drinking wine, touching or eating swine, and other unclean and hurtful practices (like smoking or drug-taking, though many Muslims do one or both), and making of usury and gambling.
The concern of most Muslims is more with conduct than with doctrine, leaving the impression that the main emphasis is on righteousness by works rather than by faith. Some deny this stress. Many Muslims nevertheless, in order to say their prayers at the specified time and in the proper manner, will go to great length to spread out their prayer rugs in the exact position; some orthodox ones have been seen to position theirs with the aid of a compass, thereby reinforcing the works-faith aspect. 14
Because of their monotheism, Muslims dislike the name "Mohammedan." This term connotes to them the worship of Mohammed, which they deny.
As authority in religious matters the Quran occupies the place of first importance. Verbally inspired and hence not truly translatable, sent down in the language of heaven (Arabic), it is the eternal Word of God (shades of Logos?). The Sunnah holds second place. It contains the traditional sayings and customs of Mohammed. Lacking anything definitive here, the Sunni Muslim turns to ijma (consensus). 15 The Shii rejects ijma, as already noted.
Although proselytism by Muslims is very active in some areas, this seems to be in direct relation to nationalism. Mus lim-Christian ecumenism, as is also Muslim ecumenism, is now remote, but the staunch monotheism of Islam and the belief that Mohammed was God's apostle helps to unite Muslims. 16
Islamic Doctrine
Like most Adventist doctrines of Scripture, Islamic doctrines are not readily developed in the Quran. Some informed Muslims, however, do think that Sura ii., the longest Sura in the Quran, presents briefly all the teachings of the Quran, but a detailed summary relevant to Adventist evangelists would require several pages. By a diligent study of the whole Quran, several doctrines emerge that are of interest to the Adventist evangelist. 17 Because the masses of Muslims are ignorant of these, adequate background needs to be provided for people who study the Bible nowadays.
Some people sincerely believe that the Arabic name for God, Allah, is better substituted by something like perhaps the Persian Khuda. This belief is very controversial, but is held because of Islam's strong Unitarian theism. Samuel Zwemer, apostle to Islam, in an article entitled "Is Allah God?" 18 argues cogently that the Muslim concept of God differs radically from the God of the Old and the New Testaments. But that appears to be the end of his argument, though some of his other writings seem to take it further. The whole argument revolves around one's view of God and is in reality semantical. The Arabic Bibles use the term Allah, and it is open to question whether a substitute name or term will aid in the subject's presentation to Muslims.
Because of its monotheism, Islam denies the Trinity. The references to the Holy Spirit in the Quran are interpreted as references to Gabriel. There is a complete denial of the sonship and divinity of Jesus, although the Quran teaches His virgin birth and prophethood. Christ's crucifixion is repudiated by most Muslims; Ahmadis state that Jesus was put on the cross, yet did not die thereon but only "swooned" and is buried in Srinagar, Kashmir. The prudent evangelist will choose his public comments on these touchy points with care.
Although Christianity has a long history of contact with Islam, the centuries have seen relatively few conversions to Christ. Muslims of all lands seem to have been impervious to the power of the gospel, yet they must have its witness. Many sincere believers will be found among the millions who now repel the drawing love of Jesus. But it will be love, and not logic alone, that will draw them.
(To be continued)
